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Tag: Reps

  • Reps quiz Adeosun, Udoma over N302.4b pension arrears

    Reps quiz Adeosun, Udoma over N302.4b pension arrears

    The House of Representatives yesterday grilled the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and her Budget and National Planning counterpart, Udoma Udo Udoma, over the N302.4 billion pension arrears.

    The lawmakers demanded to know what the executive was doing to offset the outstanding pension liabilities both under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) and the Contributory Pensions Scheme (CPS).

    While summoning the ministers last week, House Speaker, Yakubu Dogara  said the ministers and heads of relevant agencies must appear before the Green Chamber to find a realistic solution to the intractable problem of outstanding pension payments.

    But both Adeosun and Udoma while making presentation pleaded for more time to pay the outstanding saying the Federal Government only on Wednesday paid N54 billion out of the outstanding pension arrears.

    The challenge, according to the ministers was due to the inability to reconcile the figures between the relevant pension administration agencies.

    According to Mrs Adeosun, the situation had been on before the current administration and the high pension debt had been “consistent under appropriation for years that lead to the current problem”.

    She told the lawmakers that just a day before her appearance, the Federal Government had released  funds for the payment of pension arrears.

    On his part,  Udoma  said the president has set up a committee headed by the Ministry of Finance to resolve the intractable pension problem which he said was inherited.

    He said the Federal Government was up to date in terms of pensions payments, adding that an efficient and prompt payment of pension and gratuity would soon come into force as soon as the inter-ministerial committee comes up with harmonised data base.

    “Pension is something that the president is really concerned about. He thanks the House for highlighting the issue. He has directed that this is an issue that must be resolved.

    “The numbers will be reconciled and if there is any impact on the 2017 budget, we will approach the National Assembly,” he said.

    The minister also hinged some of the challenges on limited resources, saying government views salaries and pensions  payment with great importance which is the reason for the items being number one priority. “Half of the total of projected revenue in the 2017 budget is to be used to pay wages and pension,” he said.

    But members were not happy with the explanations of the minister. Members such as Betty Apiafi, Zakari Mohammed , Barde Yakubu, Obinna Chidoka, Aliyu Madaki and a host of others, expressed displeasure over this.

    Minority Leader, Leo Ogor said government was a continuum and no excuse would suffice. He said since the ministers have said the president has set up a committee to liaise with relevant pension agencies, “ we should be looking at the time frame with which they will submit their report.”

  • 2017 budget will be ready after Easter – Reps

    2017 budget will be ready after Easter – Reps

    The 2017 budget will not be ready until after the Easter celebrations, the House of Representatives has said.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrasak Namdaz, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the weekly activities of the Green Chamber on Thursday.

    He said there is no way the 2017 budget will be ready before the resumption of members from the three- week Easter break.

    The Easter break will commence on April 11.

    Namdaz said: “Hopefully, we will pass this budget when we come back from the Easter break.

    “Even the federal government is taking advantage of the non-passage of the 2017 budget.

    “You were in the plenary today (Thursday) when the Minister of Budget and National Planning said if they’re able to reconcile some figures, they are likely to approach us (for inclusion in the budget).

     

  • Reps quiz Adeosun, Udoma over N302bn pension arrears

    Reps quiz Adeosun, Udoma over N302bn pension arrears

    The House of Representatives on Thursday quizzed the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and her Budget and National Planning counterpart, Udoma Udo Udoma over N302.4 billion pension arrears.

    The lawmakers demanded to know what the Executive was doing to offset the outstanding pension liabilities under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) and the Contributory Pensions Scheme (CPS).

    The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, while summoning the ministers last week said the ministers and heads of relevant agencies must appear before the Green Chamber to find a realistic solution to the intractable problem of outstanding pension payments.

    But both Adeosun and Udoma while making presentation pleaded for more time to pay the outstanding pension arrears, saying the Federal Government paid N54 billion out of the outstanding pension arrears on Wednesday.

    The challenge, according to the ministers was due to the inability of the government to reconcile the figures between the relevant pension administration agencies.

  • Reps to probe Dstv operations, charges

    The House of Representatives on Wednesday resolved to investigate alleged exorbitant charges and refusal by Multi Choice Satellite Television Company to adopt pay-as-you-go option for customers.

    The House also mandated its Committee on Information and Culture, National Orientation, Ethics and Values to interface with the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and other relevant agencies to address the issue.

    The move followed a motion by Tajudeen Abbas (Kaduna-APC).

    In the motion, Abbas said the increasing subscription of the various bouquets offered by Multichoice and its refusal to offer pay-as-you-go option to customers caused financial anguish to subscribers.

    He said it had been the practice of the company to increase subscription of its packages on a yearly basis.

    The lawmaker said, “In 2013, the monthly subscription increased by seven to 10 per cent; in 2014, by 10 to 15 per cent and in 2015, by 10 to 22 per cent and just recently, the company sent a notification of another price increase from May 1, 2017.

    “Dstv does not have a pay-as-you-go plan like similar communication companies around the world, thereby making its subscription plan to expire at the end of the monthly subscription period, whether or not the subscriber uses the services.”

    Abbas said the regular increase in the subscription of the various bouquets on offer and the refusal to adopt a pay-as-you-go option was against all known and fair business practices all over the world.

    He expressed concern over the seeming inability of NCC to exercise its authority in the industry.

    The motion was unanimously adopted by members when it was put to voice vote by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff Lasun, who presided over the plenary.

    The House, therefore, mandated the committee investigating the matter to report back to it in eight weeks.

    NAN

  • Dogara, Reps move to tackle pension monster

    Dogara, Reps move to tackle pension monster

    Senior citizens last week took their worsening situation to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and left with smiles on their faces.

    Dogara did not offer them money, neither did he offer them a loan but he assured that the case will not only be tackled with the instrumentality of law but promised to take it personally to President Muhammadu Buhari, who he said has zero tolerance for workers’ suffering arising from unpaid dues.

    The visit was initiated by the Speaker with the adoption of a motion by the House on the urgent need to address the N285b owed pensioners in Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as well as another N174b owed those on Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) arising from non-payment of 33 percent arrears.

    The House had resolved that Buhari should approve a bailout to offset the arrears or provide the required funds in the 2017 Budget. The Senate, on the prompting of the House, followed suit with the adoption of the same prayers. Determined to have a firsthand feel of what the senior citizens are going through, Dogara arranged for the meeting and got more than he bargained for.

    Afolayan, accompanied by over 30 senior citizens broke it down and Dogara resolved that the Buhari everybody knows could not have been aware of the sordid picture painted by Afolayan. The 78 year old Afolayan said: “Pensioners have become endangered species and prone to all kind of diseases which are age related and need money for treatment. This is a very important reason why government needs to ensure that pensioners are paid as at when due, especially considering the fact that these old people have used their youthful days to serve this country meritoriously. Now that it is the payback time, the country should not fail them.

    After listing the challenges confronting them, he said “it is in view of the above that I want to use this medium to appeal to the Hon. Speaker to use his God given position to plead with the Federal Government on behalf of the vulnerable Nigerian pensioners to provide sufficient funds in 2017 Budget Appropriation Bill to offset all the pension liabilities.

    “We share the feelings of the federal government as far as the ongoing economic recession is concerned, but as we have mentioned earlier, we have to reiterate that pension should be placed on FIRST LINE CHARGE so that pension payment will not go through the traditional rigorous budgetary allocation process. Our prayers are not many, what we are asking for is provision of sufficient funds in the 2017 Appropriation Bill towards offsetting the outstanding liabilities both under the DBS and CPS Mr. Speaker Sir, your name will be written in gold when the history of the Union is re-written, if this feet is achieved during your time; Needless to remind you that our members are dying daily in pain, penury, frustration and abject poverty without enjoying the fruits of their labour”.

    Moved, Dogara looked at the position of law on the issue with  emphasis that all pensions due to retired public service workers must be paid because it is a constitutionally provided right to be paid their pension. Citing section 173 (1 & 2) of the 1999 Constitution, he stressed that it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that pensions earned by the pensioners are paid as and when due, as failure to do this could be a breach of the laws of the country.

    He assured the delegation that the House will ensure that it “speaks and speak with a loud and clear voice” on the need to make this aspect a priority, while casting doubts that President Muhammadu Buhari is aware of the huge debts owed them. “The President is a pensioner himself; he is and I know that he has always been concerned about issues related to salaries and pensions. He has been so concerned that he has extended assistance to state governments to bail them out with funds to pay salaries and pensions at state levels and I believe having taken such steps, he won’t be so unconcerned about his own responsibility to pensioners of the Federal Republic. So, I believe there is a disconnect somewhere and that is what we have to connect now and to see that even if the last person in the state gets his salary and pension, if we don’t address our pensioners at the federal level, we have failed and that message will be delivered by God’s grace”.

  • Reps query N3b quarters for Fed Govt’s officials

    Reps query N3b quarters for Fed Govt’s officials

    THE House of Representatives has criticised the Federal Government’s plan to build 40 houses for top officials of the Presidency at a cost of N3 billion.

    It queried the government’s monetisation policy, saying the programme may  have been jettisoned without due process.

    The policy, introduced during  former President Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration,  monitised housing and car incentives to civil servants.

    The Herman Hembe-led Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was, however, shocked when it was told the Presidency was planning to build 40 houses for  its top officials at a cost of N3 billion this year.

    The committee, during the 2016/2017 budget session with the Ministry of FCT,  queried the change of policy.

    The lawmakers asked for the identities of the beneficiaries, wondering whether they were lower government functionaries that deserved to be living in rented houses.

    Hembe said: “When government comes up with a policy, it should follow it up. When you begin to build houses for ministers, permanent secretaries and directors, are they above the members of the National Assembly?

    “If you want to move for monetisation, it should be complete. I think it was wrong to sell the houses in the first place.

    “This kind of thing may be very difficult to pass on the floor of the House. You can’t push for building houses for them. I remember at some point, they even wanted to sell the Vice President’s house”.

    FCT Permanent Secretary Babatope Ajakaiye, who stood in for the minister, Mohammed Bello,  said government felt the monetisatuon policy was due for review.

    Saying the governments around the world cannot do away with accommodation of its own, some of which were designated as safe houses, Ajakaiye said the government felt the monetisation policy might not have served its purpose.

    “We have not started it; it is a new project. I still want to plead for understanding on this issue. The issue has been discussed last year and we’re still talking about it. The policy was introduced by government, but after sometime, there was this feeling that it should be reviewed.

    “When government says top functionaries, it is not defining. In countries around the world, they build safe houses, and it’s not meant for any particular person.

    “Can we really say we want to give houses to about 500 legislators in one or two years? Top government functionary could be anybody. There’s always a start,” he said.

    The committee, however, demanded for the details of the 40 unit houses, their specifications and supposed beneficiaries.

    It expressed disappointment with the handling of the Abuja light rail project that ought to have been completed last year, but deferred to the first quarter of 2018.

    The committee said with the paltry allocation of N3 billion proposed for the project, its completion is not likely to see the light of the day in the life of this administration.

  • Reps wade into Shell’s planned relocation from Rivers

    Reps wade into Shell’s planned relocation from Rivers

    The Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara on Thursday called for a thorough investigation into the planned relocation of the head office of  Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) from Rivers State.

    The speaker said this when he inaugurated an Ad-hoc committee mandated to investigate the planned relocation of the company.

    Represented by the Deputy Majority Whip of the House,  Pally Iriase (Edo-APC), Dogara said that improved relationship between the Federal Government and the Niger Delta region was crucial in addressing some economic challenges confronting the country.

    “This is because the Niger Delta region sits atop oil wells where much of our revenue as a nation is derived from.

    “Relocation by the SPDC is said to be based on security concerns today. This has generated outcry and agitation by the people and if we as a House do not address it, it may escalate and result to violence and insecurity,’’ Dogara said.

    The Speaker added that the onus lied on the Federal Government and the house to ensure that justice on Niger Delta region was not denied.

    He, therefore, urged the committee to come up with a report that will be fair and forestall any crisis in the Niger Delta region.

    In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Rep Ishiaka Ibrahim, (Ogun-APC) said that the committee would meet with all the relevant stakeholders to address the matter.

    He said the committee would be fair to all sides.

    “We shall engage all relevant stakeholders in order to come up with report and recommendation that would stand the test of time.

    “We shall also consider all factors surrounding the conception of the decision of the SPDC’s planned relocation from Port Harcourt,’’ Ibrahim said.

    It would be recalled that the House on January 26, adopted a motion sponsored by Rep. Kingsley Chinda (Rivers-PDP), to set up an ad-hoc committee to prevail on Shell’s planned relocation from Port Harcourt.

    Chinda expressed concern that several youths were already protesting the planned relocation which will further escalate militant activities in the region.

    The youth restiveness, Chinda said, would affect the Nigerian economy that was already experiencing recession due to low crude oil output.

    The House, therefore, called on the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NPIMS) and Shell to suspend the planned relocation and allow it to intervene.

  • Reps summon Adeosun, Ngige over N302.4b pensions liabilities

    The House of Representatives yesterday summoned the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and her Labour counterpart, Chris Ngige to appear before it. They are to explain how the Federal Government intends to offset its N302.4 billion outstanding liability to pensioners in the country.

    The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara who issued the summons yesterday said the ministers and heads of relevant agencies must appear before the Green Chamber on Thursday next week to find a realistic solution to the intractable problem of outstanding pension payments.

    “Let them come and take centre stage and tell Nigerians what can be done to get out of this situation,” he said.

    Dogara spoke after listening to the pleas of the President of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Dr. Abel Afolayan, who led members to meet with him at the National Assembly. He appealed to the House to assist in getting the Federal Government to make provision of sufficient funds in the 2017 appropriation bill towards offsetting  the outstanding  pension liabilities both under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) and the Contributory Pensions Scheme (CPS).

    According to the Speaker, the provision of section 173 (1) and (2) of the constitution guarantees that pension is a right and must not be withheld from deserving Nigerians.

    “Pension is a right, so it means that the Federal Government is in debt,”  he said, adding by paying the pension the government was not doing a favour to anyone and  should not default except there are plausible reasons why it should not be paid.

    Dogara said anyone who has spend the better part of his life serving the country should not be subjected to what pensioners go through in the country.

  • Reps pledge support to Local Content Board

    Reps pledge support to Local Content Board

    The House of Representatives has said it would do everything possible to support the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in local content development.

    The Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Federal Capital Territory, Sergius Ose Ogun, who gave this assurance, restated the House’s commitment to making   laws that would boost Nigerian content development, disclosing that the Nigerian Content Act has been amended by the House, and the Senate has given its nod.

    In a telephone interview, Ogun said: “We have amended the Act to make it work for Nigerians. We will do all we can to make sure it works for Nigerians.”

    He urged the Board to work for the interest of all Nigerians, adding that the aims of the Board are to make Nigerians reap the benefits of its resources.

    The lawmaker appealed to indigenous firms to engage the people of the communities where they work, adding it would also help in reducing restiveness in the area. “An average Nigerian worker is a bread winner taking care of many  people; so, when you don’t engage these people, even if they don’t come out to carry placards, they have people that they take care of that can do that damage to you,” he said.

    He said it was not all about law making, adding there are enough laws that would regulate the Act and to make the International Oil Companies (IOCs) be on their feet and to do the needful.

    “The issue is not just about laws because our laws are enough to do anything you want to do but the bottomline is that we just want Nigerians to benefit from this whole thing so that at the end, it will be a win-win situation.

    ‘’It is no rocket science for the IOCs to know that if they train the local people and pay them well, they would have saved a lot of money,’’ he said.

    He said Nigerians should be very passionate local content. According to him, the IOCs were compelled to advertise, which opened the window for indigenous firms to apply.

    ‘’We appreciate what the government has done with the local content, and what the Board is doing. As lawmakers, we will do everything to support the Board.’’

    The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, said the Board had put in place adequate strategy to enhance collaboration with the government agencies, including the Immigration, Customs, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)

    He said the Board recognised every agency and stakeholder in the industry in the development of the local content.

    According to him, the Nigerian    Immigration Service is among the key government agencies that suports Nigerian content, adding the Board would work with its oficials in realising its objective.

    Earlier, a stakeholders’ workshop had been held which, according to him, was anchored by the House of Representatives where everyone discussed the modalities for the implementation of the Act and also  addressed the grey areas and spelt out roles for every agency.

    The Customs, according to him, had rolled out guidelines and policies for the Board on the elimination of substandard parts imports, adding it would be implemented by the Customs

    He said: “We have tremendous capacity in-country for the manufacture of boats, nuts, gaskets and other kinds of fittings. We are working with the Customs to ensure that we pass on our aspiration to them and this is included in their schedule to ensure that the local industries were encouraged.”

  • Reps want bailout for FG pensioners

    The House of Representatives has urged the
    Federal Government to intervene in the
    current crisis of unpaid pension arrears
    threatening the lives of Nigeria’s retired
    citizens.
    This was sequel to a motion by Rep.
    Toby okechukwu (Enugu-PDP) and six
    others.
    In the motion, Okechukwu noted that
    in annual budgetary appropriation, no
    provision was made for accrued
    benefits of pensioners under the
    Contributory Pension Scheme and
    Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS).
    He expressed concern that under the
    Contributory Pension Scheme, persons
    who retired since 2015 had not been
    paid their pensions.
    According to him, this is due to the
    failure of the Federal Government to
    contribute its statutory share of 15 per
    cent to the Pension Redemption Fund
    in line with the Pension Reform Act,
    2014, amounting to a total of N286
    billion.
    Okechukwu also expressed worry that
    pensioners under DBS, including Police,
    Nigerian Customs Service, Nigeria
    Immigration Service, Nigeria Prisons
    Service and Civil Service were yet to be
    paid 33 per cent accrued arrears of
    about N174 billion.
    “The delay in payment of pension
    arrears has resulted in dire situations
    where pensioners are wallowing in
    penury, sickness, hopelessness and
    regret for serving their fatherland
    diligently only to be abandoned by
    government upon retirement,” he said.
    The motion was unanimously adopted
    by members
    The house therefore urged the Federal
    Government to provide emergency
    bailout funds to pay outstanding
    workers’ salaries and pension arrears as
    a primary responsibility.
    .
    It also referred the motion to its
    Committee on Pensions for further
    inputs.